64: The world's first guided rocket!

The new 155mm Howitzer received orders worth 2.5 billion US dollars during its testing phase.

This greatly excited Marshal Xu Yong'an and everyone at the Changhe Weapons Manufacturing Branch Factory.

Meanwhile, the members of the Shatt Royal Family delegation were also excited to purchase such a new and heavy-duty weapon.

"Chief Designer Peng, our Shatt Royal Family is also willing to purchase 100 sets of this rocket launcher!" Prince Khalid said to Peng Lin with a smile.

Before coming to the Dragon Country, the King of Shato personally authorized him with absolute autonomy over military procurement contracts under 5 billion US dollars.

Although he was disappointed that he couldn't purchase nuclear bombs and Dongfeng 5 ballistic missiles.

However, 1,000 artillery pieces with a range of 80 kilometers were enough to bring a certain deterrent and security to his country.

Prince Khalid was generally very satisfied with the gains from his delegation's visit to the Dragon Country this time.

As for the purchase contract for these 100 sets of rocket launchers, it was considered a small token of his support and goodwill towards the Dragon Country.

Peng Lin, however, was stunned by Prince Khalid's words.

Even he hadn't expected the Shatt Royal Family to be so proactive this time.

Seeing the advanced development of Dragon Country's weaponry, the other party was even placing orders directly for equipment that hadn't even been tested yet.

This clearly indicated a desire to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with the Dragon Country.

"There's no rush to place an order; let's proceed with the test first!" Peng Lin replied.

After his words, Chief Engineer Wu Yuan of the Weapons Manufacturing Branch Factory immediately began making arrangements for the launch of the Guardian Rocket Launcher.

This rocket launcher system uses a six-tube integrated storage box.

Each launch vehicle is equipped with one launch box, containing six rockets, which can be salvo-fired at once.

When reloading, the launch vehicle can directly replace the launch box using a crane, taking only 10 minutes.

Traditional tube-type rocket launchers, however, require individual loading.

A few minutes later, a set of launch boxes was hoisted onto the launch vehicle.

"All units, prepare!"

"Fire!"

Under Wu Yuan's command, the earth trembled, and steel roared!

The six launch tubes of the Guardian Rocket Launcher position successively spewed flames, and 400mm caliber rockets, trailing orange-red tail flames, tore through the sky!

The shockwave from the salvo stirred up a cloud of dust, and the launch rack violently shook amidst the gunpowder smoke!

The rocket swarm traced dense parabolas in the air, and the solid-fuel thrusters emitted a deafening shriek!

In an instant, the sky was filled with intertwining smoke trails, and a rain of steel poured down towards the target area dozens of kilometers away!

"Next round!"

After one round of firing, Wu Yuan again ordered the replacement of the rocket storage boxes.

Meanwhile, Prince Khalid and the members of the Shatt Royal Family were utterly astonished by this never-before-seen modular rocket launch box design.

They suddenly felt that the Dragon Country's military industrial design philosophy was already far ahead of the Global.

Traditional rockets not only require individual loading but also require the launch tubes to cool down.

Generally, after one salvo, the next strike would take at least half an hour.

This is actually very critical for rocket launchers, which are "power-type" weapons designed for large-area saturation bombardment.

Prince Khalid even had a premonition that the Dragon Country's modular launch box loading method would lead the new development direction of rocket launchers Globally in the future.

He had just blindly ordered 100 sets of Guardian Rocket Launchers from the Dragon Country, actually out of a desire to express goodwill.

But now, he suddenly had a premonition that this Guardian Rocket Launcher system might prove to be incredibly worthwhile.

"Chief Designer Peng, what is the approximate range of the Guardian Rocket Launcher?" Prince Khalid asked with a hint of curiosity.

"The conventional version has a range of 70 kilometers!"

"Six rockets fired in one salvo can cover an area of 113 hectares!"

"The price for one set of this version of the Guardian Rocket Launcher is 2 million US dollars!"

"Additionally, there is a guided version of the Guardian Rocket, and the price for that version is 8 million US dollars!" Peng Lin explained.

Prince Khalid listened and nodded silently.

A range of 70 kilometers and a price of 2 million US dollars was indeed worthwhile.

Because the USA' M270 "HIMARS" rocket launcher, with a range of 32 kilometers, costs 1.5 million US dollars.

So, this price was definitely not high.

"Order the conventional version, without the guided version!" Prince Khalid said to Peng Lin.

One set at 2 million US dollars, 100 sets would be 200 million US dollars.

This could also be considered a gift he was giving to the Dragon Country.

As for the guided version, although advanced, Prince Khalid believed it was completely unnecessary.

Because rocket launchers, as area-effect weapons, traditionally require dense firepower coverage, with lower demands for accuracy.

The gyroscopes required for inertial guidance systems are expensive, and only missiles requiring precise strikes would use such components and technology.

Currently, all active or in-development rocket launchers in countries around the Global are not equipped with inertial guidance systems.

Even a powerful nation like the USA has not applied inertial guidance technology to rocket launchers.

While the Shatt Royal Family is wealthy, he would not throw money away aimlessly.

The 155mm Howitzer with an 80-kilometer range already possessed precision strike capability, so he believed that a 70-kilometer range rocket launcher with guidance was completely unnecessary.

And while Peng Lin and Prince Khalid were conversing, a new launch box had already been installed and configured on the launch vehicle.

"Report."

"The launch unit is ready!"

"The target range 400 kilometers away is also ready!"

"Can be launched at any time!"

"Please give your instructions!"

Everything was ready, and Wu Yuan came before Peng Lin to ask for instructions.

But before Peng Lin could give the order, the members of the Shatt Royal Family on the side stirred.

Because Wu Yuan's words had been simultaneously translated to them verbatim.

"Wait!"

"Chief Engineer Peng Lin!"

"What is the range of the rockets in this round of testing?" Prince Khalid almost thought he had misheard, so he quickly asked.

"This is the guided version of the rocket, with a range of 400 kilometers and an error margin within 300 meters!"

"If the warhead weight is reduced, the maximum range can reach 480 kilometers!"

"Your Royal Highness, what's wrong?" Peng Lin asked, looking at him.

And Prince Khalid, hearing Peng Lin's words, was so excited he almost jumped up!

The guided version of the Guardian Rocket could reach a range of 400 kilometers!

The maximum range could even reach 480 kilometers!

With such a good thing, why didn't you say so earlier?

You ask what's wrong!

Prince Khalid was incredibly excited; he almost overlooked such a shocking weapon because he hadn't asked about the range of the guided version of the rocket!

This Guardian Rocket Launcher was actually even further-ranging than the Soviet Union's Scud-B missile?

The Scud-B missile was a new tactical ballistic missile developed by the Soviet Union, highly renowned internationally!

Its maximum range could reach 300 kilometers, covering short to medium-range tactical targets.

For example, launched from East Germany, it could cover major Western Europe cities; deployed by the Viet Cong, it could threaten key areas in Southeast Asia.

And because its 300-kilometer range fell exactly on the standard line of the "International Missile Control Treaty."

Therefore, the Scud-B missile could be exported and was popular in many countries around the Global.

This had always been one of the most ideal weapons for the Shatt Royal Family to purchase.

However, because the Shatt Royal Family had always cooperated closely with the USA.

So, even though they had expressed their purchasing needs to the Soviet Union multiple times, they were all rejected by the other party.

Even if the Scud-B missile cost 1 million US dollars per unit, and they offered 3 million US dollars per unit, the Soviet Union remained unmoved.

So at this moment, upon hearing that the guided version of the Guardian Rocket Launcher could actually reach a range of 480 kilometers.

Prince Khalid was so excited he almost slapped his thigh!

After all, the Guardian Rocket Launcher was a rocket, and it could completely disregard the "International Missile Control Treaty" formulated by the Soviet Union and the USA!

At this moment, Prince Khalid suddenly had a feeling of a light at the end of the tunnel!

He never expected that after visiting so many countries, the missile he had always wanted to buy, capable of hitting Iraq and Israel's capital, was now realized by the Dragon Country in the form of a rocket launcher!

"Buy!"

"Buy it at any price!"

This was the deepest and most genuine reflection of Prince Khalid's inner thoughts at this moment!

He was even somewhat glad that he had placed billions of dollars in orders with the Dragon Country before.

Because such a large order should have been enough to make the Dragon Country Government and military maintain a certain goodwill towards the Shatt Royal Family.

Thus, they would be able to bypass the "International Missile Control Treaty" and purchase deterrent weapons with a range exceeding 300 kilometers!